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My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU (OreGairu), Episode 06: Life is a Redo

As episode six begins, Hikki has effectively broken up his friendship with Yui, because he thinks she’s only being nice to him because she feels guilty about her role in his delayed entrance into high school. And in episode six, when it looks like bridges could be built, Yui finds Hikki and Yukino together on a pseudo date as they shop for a present for their friend.

In many an anime, an entire angsty arc could have been made of this. SNAFU, however, resolves the problems by the episode’s end in really the most rational way. Whatever the two are feeling, they agree to put the past behind, evening the score, as it were, and starting over.

Their relationship becomes a redo.

Art by 刃天

I used to often think about how I’d redo my life. Even though most of us would probably say that ultimately, we wouldn’t change a thing, because what we did led us to who we are now, my past mistakes were so ridiculous and so fixable, that I dwelt upon them often and really wanted to change them. All that changed when I became older, married, and had children – but still, regrets remained.

And although I can’t relive the past, I can have a redo – a new starting point. One beauty of Christianity is this: no matter what we’ve done, no matter where we’ve been, and no matter who we are, God offers us a redo – a chance to start over. We can have an ugly reputation, but because other believers know what Paul meant when he said was was the worst of sinners, we know that genuine change can happen, even to those who we’d otherwise think could never change.

This redo is focused on one’s relationship with God. Once pictured like a boy or girl running away in the complete opposite direction of dad’s widespread arms, justification turns that little boy or girl around right into those loving arms. A complete 180 is occurring, and a fractured relationship is restored.

Bygones are bygones, no matter what hurt is involved. Just as with Hikki and Yui, the opportunity to start fresh is given. A believer can now come to the LORD with worries and hurts and sins, knowing that he or she has had a redo that will always lead to forgiveness.

When we make mistakes, a redo can mean the world. Certainly, I imagine it’s going to lead to honest friendship, at the very least, between Hikki and Yui. And for you and me, it can mean something even more – a new lot on life, a new heart, and a new way to live. This redo changes everything.

“And although I can’t relive the past, I can have a redo – a new starting point. One beauty of Christianity is this: no matter what we’ve done, no matter where we’ve been, and no matter who we are, God offers us a redo – a chance to start over. ”

I have met so many motherf*ckin bastards who destroyed lives of others with that sentence on their tongue I cannot take it seriously. They were demented to the point that before hurting someone they believed it won’t be any problem because it will be forgiven or they will start anew anyway. All this while laughing at the victims.

You better be careful, for when you diminish mistakes of the past – your or others – you are prone to repeat them at some point in life. One should forgive but shall not forget.

You bring up a good point – and the Bible addresses this – that we can’t forget the past, even if we start anew. In Christianity, it’s a concept commonly referred to as “cheap grace” – we use forgiveness as an excuse to not only forget the past, but to continue to do wrong while saying we can continually start over.

Our pasts can’t be forgotten, nor should they be. The Christian life is largely based on the the principle that we remember who we were and that we don’t forget the sin we’ve done. There’s no real freedom if we can’t remember the depths of our inhumanity.

If we believe that Christ DIED for our sins, the response should be to change – inside out. A changed person wouldn’t laugh at others or continue to hurt them. Instead, I think a real demonstration of a new heart is to go back and try to repair wrongs and help individuals in need.

Hachiman is someone bound by the mistakes of the past, though. Everything about him is a defense mechanism to minimize pain. If you watched episode five, which ended with his “Why I hate nice girls” monologue, he’s forgiven people in a sense, but never, ever forgot. He desperately needs to reset, because he’s turned rejection and pain in the past into a really strong armor that shuts everyone out.

He’s a really interesting character because he is so rational and observant about things, but in many ways blind himself.

Good insight – he’s interesting, in part, because of his age. He’s mature for a teenager…but he’s still a teenager and has both a limited scope and limited experience in the world. I’m eager to see how he continues to develop over the course of the series.

I personally love this series. The 8-man is a guy like me in his position. Well, I never had to deal with the trouble of teachers forcing me to socialize, but I know where he’s coming from and at the core of my soul, even if it sounds rather sour, I know the guy is usually right. Luckily I’m never alone or things would have gotten even darker for me then it had been. It’s always nice to have the ultimate partner by your side isn’t it?